British Court Upholds Detention of Ex-Guardian Journalist's Partner

Britain's High Court has upheld the detention of a man stopped in London last year with classified documents leaked by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

The High Court said on Wednesday that the detention and questioning of David Miranda, partner of former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was not only "legitimate, but very pressing."

Miranda was detained at Heathrow Airport last August, where his encrypted devices containing nearly 60,000 classified documents were seized. He was also questioned for nearly nine hours. Lawyers for Miranda and Greenwald had argued that the government's use of terrorism laws to justify its actions was improper and infringed on Miranda's right to freedom of expression.

Snowden passed thousands of classified documents to Greenwald to be used in articles for The Guardian newspaper. Supporters of Greenwald's case argue that Britain's actions have the potential to affect other journalist activities. The Guardian quoted Miranda's lawyer as saying the ruling "leaves little room for responsible investigative journalism which touches on national security issues."